Discoveries are flowing out of the laboratory of Assoc. Prof. Matthew Suss in the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, where research is having a catalytic impact on sustainability. With a system to let two electrolytes flow together without intermixing, MSc student Lihi Amit constructed a flow battery using bromine and zinc – cheap and readily available materials. This allows new batteries in which the expensive membrane can be replaced with the cheap and fluid membrane of each individual droplet. This innovative membraneless, single-flow battery with multiphase flow was recently reported in ChemSusChem.
Elsewhere in the lab, the science of desalination was simplified. An innovative modelling technique to predict the behavior of boron during desalination by means of capacitive deionization was showcased by PhD students Amit Shocron and Eric Guyes, with supervisor Prof. Matthew Suss and collaborators from Wageningen University and Wetsus. This emerging technique for water treatment and desalination uses cheaper, porous electrodes, as opposed to expensive membranes. When an electric current is applied, charged particles are adsorbed by the electrodes and hence removed from the water. The theoretical framework and experimental results were reported in PNAS in October 2021.
RESEARCH IN CATALYSIS IS KEY TO SOLVING MANY OF THE GREAT CHALLENGES FACING HUMANITY. THE FUTURE OF OUR PLANET DEPENDS ON OUR ABILITY TO THINK DIFFERENTLY AND UNCOVER NEW WAYS TO ADDRESS GLOBAL SUSTAINABILITY ISSUES. THE GOAL OF THE NEW TECHNION CENTER FOR SUSTAINABLE PROCESSES AND CATALYSIS IS TO DISCOVER AND DEVELOP NEW CATALYSTS FROM NATURALLY ABUNDANT ELEMENTS, INTRODUCING A WHOLE NEW LEAGUE OF SUSTAINABLE PROCESSES.
– Prof. Ilan Marek, Head of Center for Sustainable Processes and CatalysisÂ
